BJ8 door hinge pillar plate redo

[wangdango]

Hello-
I am about to replacing the rusted hinge pillar plate, the large reinforcing plate (has the huge holes), and the most inner piece the piece that makes up the our portion of the footwell. Question is, do I drill out the spot welds, use a cut off wheel, etc? I plan on using a Mig to spot weld in the various new bits. Also, the replacement panels are all primer (all Kilmartin sheet metal), should I further paint these with a epoxy primer? Undercoating/truckbed liner? Any advice on going about doing this whole process would be great.
Thanks
Ed


PS- if anyone has pictures of doing any of this would be great.......

 

[Randy Forbes]

I would recommend drilling out as many of the spotwelds as possible. You'll still need a (thin) grinding wheel, and/or cut-off wheel (they both have their place) to separate stitch welds.

By drilling out the spotwelds, to the extent possible, you'll be able to install the replacement piece(s) much the same as was originally done.

I've never (knowingly) held a Kilmartin replacement panel in my hand, but I will go out on a limb to say whatever coating that is on it now, is only intended to keep the piece free of corrosion until it gets into your hands. By all means, use the best primers, seam sealers that you can get your hands on! I would coat the entire panel before assembly, even knowing that some of the finish will be burned away during the installation process.

3M makes a <span style="text-decoration: underline">very good</span> aerosol "rubberized undercoating" much like your trunck-bedliner suggestion, and this would be a good application for it.

 

[Randy Forbes]

BTW, I DO have pictures, but they're snapshots (3-1/2 X 5) and not yet scanned to digital; I guess it would depend on how soon you needed them...

 

[wangdango]

Thanks for the info Randy. I would guess I wont be starting the work till about a week from now. Still waiting for some panels from British Car Specialists which should arrive toward the end of the week. I am a bit worried about keeping things all lined up in regard to the door hinge panel replacements, but would guess very careful measurements will be ok. So, if you get some time I would love to see some pictures.

 

[57_BN4]

Recently did this job on my BN4.

You don't want to remove the entire pillar support if possible, it should only be necessary to replace the bottom section of the brace (bit with big holes in). The face panel where the hinges can be removed easily with a spot weld drill. Don't use a regular one, nor a spot weld cutter (miniature hole saw) as they will damage the metal you want to keep. The spot weld drills are shaped so they don't remove any of the metal below and you can get an absolutely clean removal with only damage to the removed panel.

For the stitch welds I use a Dremel with flex extension and cut-off wheel. It isn't very quick but it is accurate and very controllable.

Before welding the new hinge pillar plate in, copy the fender screw hole pattern onto it once you have the best position established. I did the is by fitting bolts to the check strap holes to hold it on and then trial fitting the door. Then I sprayed a very quick mist of primer in behind so it went through and marked the screw holes which I drilled after removing the new panel.

The Kilmarten paint needs removing fully as it is not really a primer. They paint the panels to stop them rusting while in storage but it doesn't really adhere to the metal. Get a 4" radial wire-wheel in the battery drill and it comes off in seconds. Reverse the rotation every few minutes to keep the wires sharp. Then spray the new panel and the cleaned up existing metal that will not be exposed when the job is finished with weld-through primer and you are good to go.

For welding, if you are able to hire or otherwise get hold of a spot welder with long arms the job will look much nicer than plug welds. I have a very old single phase spot welder which weighs a tonne but does very nice work as long as the tips are dressed every few welds. I drag a used power file belt a couple of times through the closed tips to keep them shiny.

Andy.

 

[Richard Dickinson]

I don't know how badly your pillar is rusted, but if you can just cut out the bottom portion and weld in a new section from the replacement part you will be well ahead of the game when it comes to refitting the doors and other sheet metal.

 

[wangdango]

The bottom of the pillar is in bad shape and there is rust along the surface where the pillar hinge panel attaches to the outer footbox panel (bottom of this piece is also rusted and has had a pretty ugly fix in the past), I am from the "club" that if something is going to be done, do it right the first time, so I will be replacing these three panels. I think I might buy some small square box tubing and cut two pieces and tack weld them to the striker panel so they fit snug against the hinge pillar panel. That way the panel orientation will be the same from front to back. Does this sound like a sound idea?

 

[Randy Forbes]

The bottom of the pillar is in bad shape and there is rust along the surface where the pillar hinge panel attaches to the outer footbox panel (bottom of this piece is also rusted and has had a pretty ugly fix in the past), I am from the "club" that if something is going to be done, do it right the first time, so I will be replacing these three panels. I think I might buy some small square box tubing and cut two pieces and tack weld them to the striker panel so they fit snug against the hinge pillar panel. That way the panel orientation will be the same from front to back. Does this sound like a sound idea?

It's better than nothing, though I prefer to be able to manipulate the door opening to fine-tune the panel gaps, using these adjustable aperature clamps I made up quite some years ago:

More images: https://www.spcarsplus.com/gallery3/index.php/Bic-Healey-Deluca-s/door_opening_fixtures